Distractions, distractions… All around us, everywhere!

by Louise Crooks

Call them what you like: ‘shiny bright objects’, ‘magic bullets’, your to-do list, your family priorities etc…
These things often get in the way of the things we know are most important to us when it comes to growing our practices, and doing what we’ve been called to do.
When you have an important goal, and you’re feeling inspired and excited about it – but there is something blocking you…. You’ll find yourself procrastinating or doing something else, and finding that that important goal isn’t getting attention or moving forward.
If you are finding yourself doing other things… perhaps a course to help you do Facebook, or a teleseminar on speaking, or reading a book on limiting beliefs, or an article on writing, or chatting with friends on social media…

Ask yourself these two questions:
1) Is it taking me to where I want to go?
2) Is it relevant to my goal?
Be completely honest with yourself – after all this is for you!
If you can’t answer yes to both of these questions, then chances are your focus is being taken in the direction of a distraction.
We all fall victim to this – myself included!
Not only can it be a form of procrastination getting in the way of doing something you don’t want to, it can also be a sign of something else.
And that something else is a little something we’re all familiar with – it’s called ‘fear’.

In fact that little something can sometimes be a big something when we examine it closely.
You might be asking yourself why you keep putting off that particular thing you need to get done, or the direction you want to take your business, or the visibility you want to create through speaking etc and chances are there is a specific fear lurking underneath the desire to get those things done.

It can create enormous frustration, and often self-judgment when you keep telling yourself off for not getting to it. Can you relate? In fact when you keep setting this important goal for yourself, and keep not doing it, it’s possible the trust you have for your own word is starting to erode. (again, been there!!)
Recently I attended a fabulous event which took us through a process to support us in going for our big goals.
I was truly surprised to find out how I’d been holding myself back in regard to visibility in my business.
YIKES!!
Yes, call that ironic, being the ‘queen’ of visibility for my community. I was pretty astonished and shocked!
(And yes, we all end up teaching what we most need to learn, right!? 😉 )
I was planning a one day event to be held in NY in 2015 and I discovered there was some fear coming up, underneath my excitement for this goal – which was partly why the steps towards it had recently come to a halt.
That fear was around my own visibility and about putting myself out there in a big way and what that might mean.
I found I was doing other things that were distractions to that specific goal! In other words giving me good reason not to concentrate on my event. It’s amazing what we tell ourselves. I’m sure you can relate!
By revealing my fear, I now know what’s been holding me back, and am able to support myself. It’s opened a door of possibility for me and I’m excited.
So, I know that becoming visible in your coaching or healing business or as an author, is really important to you.
What does visibility look like to you?
Have you chosen a strategy but are not sure what’s getting in the way? Maybe it’s your own workshop, speaking to groups, or growing a community on Facebook? You know what it is.
Sit for a moment, and ask yourself what fear might be lurking underneath that desire.
Just by uncovering that fear, we might be able to switch our thoughts to more supportive ones, and see that that fear might not be as real as we think it is.
As you continue on your path, watch out for those distractions along the way, because in truth they are often road signs that your fear is taking you down a different path.
Here’s to you (and me) keeping on the path that takes us to where we want to go, so we can effortlessly do our best work in the world!!

If this resonates, and you have any thoughts on above, examples of how you get distracted, or want to share about a fear getting in the way of your specific goal, we’d love hear about it below. And of course any tips to help let go of the fear, would be awesome!